Cooling means for combustion turbines



March 7, 1939.

A. J. JODEIKO COOLING MEANS FOR COMBUSTION TURBINES Filed March 27, 1936 2 Shegts-Sheet l cfiZexa/zaa' ale/0 aezXa ATTORNEY March 7, 1939. A J, JODEIKQ 2,150,098

COOLING MEANS FOR COMBUSTION 'IURBTNES Fil ed March 27, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 7, 1939 NIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE oooLmG MEANS ron comnns'non Y 'ronnmns I Alexander J. Jode'iko, New York, N. Y. Application March 27, 1936, Serial No. 11,30! 3 Claims. 60-41) The object of the invention is to provide a cooling means particularly adaptable to use with combustion turbines such as is disclosed in Patent No. 2,035,482, issued March 31, 1936; to provide a cooling means for combustion turbines in which an elastic fluid is employed as the cooling agent but carried through the parts at great velocity, so that the cooling function may be carried out efliciently; to provide a construction for air or other elastic fluid circulation for the purpose indicated that will avoid back pressure; and generally to provide a structure employing air or other suitable elastic fluid as a cooling agent which is of comparatively simple form and therefore susceptible of comparatively cheap construction and incorporation in aprime mover operating on the combustion principle.

With this object in view, the invention consists in a construction and combination of parts of which a preferred embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of acombustion turbine in which the invention is incorporated.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken horizontally through the center of the shaft of one of the turbine units.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views on the planes indicated by the lines 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5 respectively of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is an elevational view of one of the spiral blade units of the second stage circulating fan.

Figure 7 is an end elevational view of the structure of Figure 6, looking at the smaller end of the latter.

The turbine units A and B are mounted at the remote ends of the base C but are disposed in axial alignment with the rotors coupled to a common shaft I0, as in Patent No. 2,035,482. The two turbines are designed to be separately supplied with fuel charges and are constructed to run in opposite directions when energized, the unenergized unit being driven by the energized unit in the operation of the machine through the proper functioning of the ignition apparatus D, the air compressors F, the fuel pumps G and the scavenging pumps H, all as in Patent No. 2,035,482.

Except for being constructed to rotate in opposite directions when energized, the two turbine units are identical and each comprises a rotor in which the core I l is carried by the shaft sections l2 and I3 terminating in plates H and I5 which are bolted to the core to lie fiat against the latter except at the center where they are depressed, as indicated at I6 from the normal planes of the plates, so as to provide air chambers l1 and I8 at the center of the core but respectively on opposite sides thereof and covering a sufllcient area of the core at the center to 5 bring the ends of the tapering bores l9 within the air chambers.

As indicated in Figure 3, the rotor is formed with a plurality of bores |9 arranged in a circular series concentric with the axis of the rotor. 10

The shaft sections l2 and I3 are bored axially, as indicated at 20, the outer end of the section i2 opening to the atmosphere and the remote end of the section l3 communicating with the first stage of a two stage circulating fan, so 15 that air may enter the bore of section I2, pass through the conical bores l9 and into the bore of section l3 from which it is taken up by the circulating fan. The bores H! are arranged with their larger ends communicating with the air 20 chamber 3 and their smaller ends with the air chamber H and in each bore there is disposed a plural bladed element 2|, the blades of which taper in radial extent but which are also of spiral form, each blade, in the length of the core, ex- 25 tending an angular distance of 180 around the bore. The bladed elements 2| correspond in dimensions to the dimensions of the bores I9. When the rotor is energized, air is taken in through the bore of the shaft section l2 and 30 passed between the blades of the elements 2| into the bore of section I3 and thence into the circulating fan.

The air or other elastic fluid, after passing through the bores I9 of the rotor and into the 35 bore of the shaft section I3 is transferred to the first stage of the circulating fan which consists of two fan elements housed in a. common casing 22. The intake of the first stage fan is at the center of the latter and the discharge at the 40 periphery, the first stage fan consisting of a hol low member 23 made preferably of lateral sheets, inner and outer rings 24 and 25 and radial tubes 26, the fan being preferably formed in sections bolted together as indicated at 21 and 28. The 5 fan 23 is progressively reduced in thickness from the center to the periphery, so that the tubes 26 are of axially tapering form from the inner ring 24 to the outer ring 25 and in each tube is disposed a bladed element 29, similar to the bladed 50 element 2|, except that the twist of the blades in the length of the tubes is instead of as in the case of the bladed elements 2|. The inner ring 24 is in surrounding relation to the end of the shaft section l3 but is spaced from 55 the latter which is formed with an outlet port 33 placing the bore of the shaft section in communication with the space between the shaft section and the ring 24. Thus the air drawn through the bore of the shaft sections reaches the first stage fan 23 at the center and is discharged from the latter at its periphery between the blades of the bladed elements 23, the lateral disks forming the sides of the fan extending to the shaft section l3 and shaft ID by which the fans are carried, so as to provide a central inner chamber in the fan 23.

The companion or second stage fan 3| is substantially identical with the first stage fan 23, having the outer ring 240, the inner ring 25a, the radial tubes 26a and the bladed elements 29a. The second stage fan, however, is of progressively increasing thickness from the center to the periphery. It is disposed on the opposite side of the partition element 32, the partition element being carried by the wall of the case 22 and extending inwardly toward the shaft l0 but terminating short of the latter so that the air in the case surrounding the fan 23 may pass between the side plate of the fan and the partition to enter the center air chamber 33 of the fan 3| from which it is discharged through the bladed elements 29a at the periphery of the fan, leaving the case 22 through the tubular conductors 34 which connect the circulating fan cases of both the turbine units but which are provided each with a centrally disposed valve 35 by means of which communication between'one circulating fan and the other may be established or obstructed. depending on whether the valves 35 are in open or closed position.

The total capacity of the two stages of the circulating fans is about equal to the capacity of the bores l9 and their associated bladed elements and the effect of the first stage fan is to compress the air prior to delivery to the second stage by which the air is expanded and heat dissipated therefrom in consequence.

The air discharged into the conductors 34 by the circulating fans may, by reason of peculiar construction, be employed to cool the exhaust conduits 36 of the turbine units, since each of these, adjacent its point of connection with its exhaust pump H, is provided with a pipe coil 31 interiorly thereof. One end of the pipe coil 31 is connected with the pipe 38 which is tapped to the conduit 34 but is provided with a valve 39 at this point. The valve 35 in each conduit 344s shunted with a pipe 40 provided with valves II and a third valve .2 which controls an air discharge outlet 43. The air thus delivered by the fan may be discharged to the atmosphere by closing the valve 39 and opening the valve ll nearest the fan delivering air and also opening the valve 32. The air thus passes from the fan through the conduit 34 and into the shunt pipe 0 and thence out through the discharge 43 controlled by the valve 42. I

Ifitisdesiredtousetheairtocooltheerhaust conduit 36, the valves I are closed and the valve 39 opened when air will pass from the conduit 34intothepipe 33 andthencethroughthecoil 31 and out to the atmosphere. Similarly the air delivered by the fan may be driven through the coil 31 of the exhaust conduit 36 of the turbine operating simultaneously through the exhaust tube of the opposite unit by opening both valves 39 and both valves ll but closing valves 35 and 42. Then the air in the conduit 34 will pass to both pipes 33 and around both coils 31 to the atmosphere.

While the bladed elements in the two stages of the exhaust fans may be twisted to have either right hand or left hand spiral angles, the bladed elements II are twisted in the direction in which their respective rotors are to run when energized. Each turbine rotor II when looked at from the intake end turns in a counter-clockwise direction when energized. The vanes 2| contained in the passageways l9 are of X-shape as shown in Fig. 3,

and are spirally twisted with the spiral set in a clockwise direction when looked at from the intake end, so that when the rotor rotates in a counter-clockwise direction the spiral vanes will act as a pump to accelerate the flow of air.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and useful is:

1. In a combustion turbine a rotor formed with a concentric series of frusto-conical bores extending therethrough and serving as passages for a cooling fluid, the intake ends of the bores being smaller than the outlet ends thereof, spiral vanes disposed in the bores withthe spiral set to accelerate the flow of fluid therethrough when the turbine is energized, a pair of hollow shaft secthus formed with plates at the ends thereof connected to opposite sides of the rotor, said shaft sections extending from opposite sides of the axial center of the rotor and being adapted to support the rotor, said plates and rotor being formed so as to provide chambers on opposite sides of the rotor communicating with the bores in the rotor, the said bores in the shaft sections communicating with the chambers so as to form a continuous cooling fluid passage, a centrifugal pump mounted on one of the shaft sections adjacent the outlet end of the bore and communicating with the bore so as to draw a cooling fluid through the passage.

2. A combustion turbine as specified in claim 1 in which the centrifugal pump is formed in two separate but communicating stages so as to reduce the diameter thereof.

3. A combustion turbine as specified in claim 1 in which the centrifugal pump comprises two stages having central intakes and peripheral discharges of which the intake of the second stage.

is in communication with the discharge of the first stage and the intake of the latter in com munication with the interior of the shaft section on which it is mounted, each stage comprising a hollow element, and radially disposed tubes opening on the periphery and into the intake, the tubes of the first stage being of progressively reduced cross section towards the periphery and the tubes of the second stage of progressively in-" creased cross section towards the periphery.

ALEXANDER J. JODEIKO. 

